


hurricanes and first dates

by gravitropism



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cheese, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-24
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2019-04-27 03:45:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14416971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gravitropism/pseuds/gravitropism
Summary: Baekhyun is working on it, okay? He just needs a little more time.





	hurricanes and first dates

**Author's Note:**

> hey y y y have some cute baekchen they love you, you love them, it's all good baby
> 
> title from Airplane Man's Take Me All the Way Home (which i think is actually a breakup song but shut up okay)

“What do you mean, you don’t know each other?” Kyungsoo asks, askance. He looks personally offended.

“I mean, I’ve never seen this guy before in my life,” Baekhyun says with a shrug and a gesture at ‘Jongdae.’ “This is a big campus, in case you haven’t noticed. I’d say it’s actually uncommon for people to know each other.”

Kyungsoo frowns. Baekhyun still doesn’t know why he’s so angry about this, honestly. Baekhyun has done plenty worse to annoy him, and while Kyungsoo does get angry, his anger is usually vicious but short-lived. “Because you two are both the most obnoxious people I know, and I associate you two together in my head. I really have a hard time believing that you’ve never met before.” Oh, yeah, that would do it.

“Aw, come on, I’m not that bad,” Jongdae complains, turning in his seat to face Kyungsoo directly. They’re sitting in the campus cafe: shitty coffee for even shittier college students. Baekhyun thinks it’s a match made in heaven (plus, his uncultured taste buds really have no room to complain. According to Kyungsoo, anyone who actually enjoys Taco Bell needs to be “burned at the stake” and “That’s not real food, Baekhyun, and if I see a single speck of cheese on my kitchen table I’m going to insert this pencil eraser into your urethra”).

“Do you remember that time sophomore year when we were at that party and you tripped me in front of that girl I liked, and then proceeded to flirt with her even though you like men?”

“I did that out of love!”

Kyungsoo’s fingers tighten around his pen. Baekhyun rests his chin on his hand and gets comfortable; normally he’s the one facing the brunt of Kyungsoo’s anger and this side of the equation is a lot more interesting. “I think your definition of love and mine differ significantly.”

Jongdae groans, and spreads his hands flat on the table. Baekhyun glances down: his fingers are kind of stubby, but there’s a ring around one of them and that’s kind of neat. “One of my other friends at the party told me that she cheated on her last boyfriend, and I didn’t want that for you.”

Kyungsoo was silent for a moment. “And you didn’t think to tell me this?” he asks, eyebrows creeping slowly higher on his forehead.

“Well, seeing as I blacked out shortly after, it kind of skipped my mind?” Jongdae says sheepishly. “I thought I had already explained or something because you didn’t seem that angry.”

Heaving a sigh, Kyungsoo turns to Baekhyun. “Anyway, I think you guys could definitely be friends. In fact, if you don’t become friends, I’m going to quit school and become a hermit.”

“Noted,” Baekhyun replies, and turns to Jongdae. “What’s your major?”

“Accounting,” Jongdae says. “You?”

“I’m pre-law, History. That would probably explain why we’ve never met, huh?”

Jongdae laughs. “Yeah, probably, though I have taken a few history courses. Man, Kyungsoo gets around.”

\--

They don’t start dating until a few years after they graduate. After the fact, Baekhyun had supposed that it was inevitable, given the amount of time they had spent flirting-but-not-really with each other during school. He’s actually kind of surprised it didn’t happen sooner.

It all played out like this: Baekhyun, Jongdae, and Kyungsoo were supposed to be getting dinner together on Friday night, but for once in his life, Kyungsoo actually has something going on.

“Look, I’m sorry, but I’ll be at the next one. Dates don’t just drop out of the sky, you know. And I’ll be there next week,” Kyungsoo says over the phone. Baekhyun heaves a sigh, glaring out the window. He doesn’t mind going with just Jongdae, but he’d rather have all three of them there because they’re his emotional support and he needs that.

“I guess it’s fine for a week,” Baekhyun says. It’s dark outside, and looks like it’s threatening to rain. Wonderful. “But you better tell me all of the details afterwards.”

“I don’t have the ability to keep anything from you,” Kyungsoo replies frankly. “Your propensity to weasel information out of me is an untapped resource.”

Baekhyun grins. “I’m a lawyer for a reason, Soo baby.”

“...I think I just got the chills. Never call me that again, and I’m hanging up to go on my date now. Have fun with Jongdae.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Baekhyun says, the sound cutting off. He moves his phone away from his ear to check and make sure that it is indeed off, and then spins on his heel, moving towards the door.

_ill be there in 10 sweetie_

Baekhyun types the message and sends it off to Jongdae. It’s his turn to drive to the restaurant, so he leaves his apartment a little earlier than normal and drives over to Jongdae’s place, pulling up to the curb. Putting the car in park, he whips out his phone again.

_eyy bb ur ride is here_

_im comin_

It doesn’t take long for Jongdae to leave his building, opening the passenger door like he’s the one who owns Baekhyun’s car.

“Just us this week, huh?” he comments, buckling his seatbelt and looking over at Baekhyun. “Kyungsoo texted me, said he called you.”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun grumbles, waiting for Jongdae to get settled before pulling away. “He said he has a date.”

Jongdae whistles. “Lucky him, huh? I never thought he would be the one dating while we’re still single.” Jongdae is right, unfortunately. While both Baekhyun and Jongdae had dated and banged their (separate) hearts out in college as Kyungsoo focused on his academics, the situation is now flip-flopped. Kyungsoo is the one dating, despite what he says about the frequency of his love life, and Jongdae and Baekhyun are stuck in a single rut. Is it because they’re workaholics? Baekhyun would certainly like to hope not.

“I know, right?” Baekhyun says in agreement. He can’t help but wonder if there’s some other dimension to this equation, but then again he’s never been one for math.

“Are we still getting sushi, or are we going to go for Moroccan now that Kyungsoo isn’t here?” Jongdae asks, changing the subject. “We get sushi too often when he’s here, so let’s switch it up.”

“That was my plan, actually,” Baekhyun says, switching on his turn signal. “But let’s definitely keep it a secret that we like the Moroccan place more.”

He manages to find street parking (lucky!) and they get out, walking (a brisk breeze seems to be clearing the clouds away, super lucky!) a couple blocks the rest of the way to the restaurant. It’s still fairly early, so they’re seated quickly.

“I’m feeling lamb tonight,” Jongdae says slowly, opening his menu and reading. “I wore dark clothes on purpose tonight just in case of turmeric.”

“Smart,” Baekhyun says, absorbed in his own menu. “I think I want chicken. With white wine.”

Jongdae just hums, still looking, and Baekhyun shuts his menu and looks around. The atmosphere in this place is great, they should come here more often.

An hour later, both of them are giggling at some stupid joke, a little lightheaded from the wine.

“And while the mime did survive, he’ll never walk again!” Jongdae snickers, thumping his fist on the table.

Baekhyun is trying desperately to muffle his laughter. “That one gets me every time,” he wheezes. “Shit, I can’t drive home like this.” Maybe that third glass was a bad idea.

“Dammit, Baekhyun,” Jongdae sighs, dabbing at the corners of his eyes. “Well, it’s still pretty nice out, even though it’s dark, and we’re pretty close to that one park. We could either call a taxi or go take a walk and sober up.”

“Mm, walk, definitely,” Baekhyun says. September is still pretty nice in New York, so they might as well take advantage of it. “We’ll go after we pay. Your turn to get the bill, you lucky bastard.”

“Oh!” Jongdae says, eyes widening. “Kyungsoo isn’t here, so it’s cheaper! Nice.”

“Yeah, shh, though, because if he finds out we had more fun without him, we’ll never hear the end of it,” Baekhyun says, reaching up to fix his ruffled hair.

“Right, right,” Jongdae agrees, grabbing their bill.

When the waiter comes back, they leave, walking a bit before they hit the line of trees. It’s a little cool, but both of them are wearing long sleeves, so Baekhyun finds that he’s pretty comfortable. They aren’t the only ones out walking, it being a Friday night, but everything is still fairly peaceful.

Baekhyun is wondering out loud about how trees work when Jongdae interrupts him.

“Hey, bench, want to sit down?”

Baekhyun looks over. What ho, a free bench. “Yeah, sure.” He ambles over and Jongdae sits down heavily.

“It seems like my alcohol tolerance has gone to shit,” Jongdae says, grinning up at him sheepishly. “I remember being able to drink a lot more in college.”

Baekhyun snorts and takes a seat next to him. “Yeah, that happens, plus we’re getting older, now.”

“Something something your body quits at twenty-five?” Jongdae says, brushing a hand through his hair. “I don’t know.”

“Something like that,” Baekhyun says, trailing off. A breeze brushes past them, and the ends of Baekhyun’s hair flutter. It really is nice out.

“Sometimes I wish we were still in college,” Jongdae says idly. “Not badly, but it was nice to be able to pretend that the real world didn’t exist for a while.”

“It still existed, though.”

Jongdae makes a pained noise. “No, it was like living in a microcosm, where your biggest problems were grades and your love life.”

“Huh,” Baekhyun says, leaning back. “I guess? That sort of makes sense. You had love life problems, though?” He hadn’t really been under the impression that Jongdae struggled with that.

Jongdae shifts, and Baekhyun looks over at him. He looks uncomfortable. “Not... exactly.”

Baekhyun blinks, and then turns in his seat. “That sounds like a problem to me.”

“No, not really,” Jongdae protests quietly. “Listen, don’t worry about it, okay?”

But Baekhyun is a better friend than that, and he knows when keeping something locked up is unhealthy, so he presses a little. “Seriously, Jongdae, you can tell me. I’m not going to judge you, you know that.”

“I’d rather not tell you,” Jongdae mutters. “I think you’d be happier not knowing.”

“I really doubt that,” Baekhyun replies immediately. “Jongdae. Really.”

Jongdae heaves a sigh and looks down. “I kind of had a bit of a crush on you, and it kind of still exists, but it’s not that big of a deal.”

Baekhyun sits backed, a little shocked. Out of everything Jongdae could have told him, he really wasn’t expecting that. Maybe something like about liking Kyungsoo, or one of their other friends, but he hadn’t thought that Jongdae liked him in college, and still does. Hell, he just assumed that they had one of those yeah-we’re-both-gay-but-we’re-gay-friends-forever bonds where you’re not allowed to cross the line into dating. That’s just the way it is, right?

“And now you’re going to hate me. Great. I told you that you didn’t want to know, Baekhyun, and now I’ve gone and fucked everything up.” Jongdae makes to get up from the bench, his face turned away, but Baekhyun manages to snap out of his trance and grab onto his arm.

“No, Jongdae,” he says, not quite trusting what’s about to come out of his mouth, “Wait. It’s fine.”

Jongdae sits back down heavily, still not meeting Baekhyun’s gaze. “I doubt that,” he says, one hand coming up to rub at his eyes

“No, really. It’s fine. I thought... I thought we were the kind of friends that wouldn’t date each other because that’s just how it works,” Baekhyun tries to explain, and the more he thinks about it, the less sense it makes. “You know, where you appreciate the other person but you have this line you don’t cross.” When that comes out, Baekhyun realizes that it sounds kind of bad, but he doesn’t know how else to say it.

Jongdae’s eyes narrow a little, and it looks like he’s about to cry. “So you’ve never even considered me as someone you’d like to be with? Thanks, that’s a really nice thing to say.”

Baekhyun shakes his head, frustrated. “That’s not it. I thought about it a few times, you know, but I... I thought you drew a line. We met up for coffee that one time, remember? And you made it very clear that it wasn’t a date.”

Jongdae’s eyes glaze over. “Was that the first time we met without Kyungsoo around?”

“Yeah, I think so? Probably.”

“I was nervous and thought you weren’t into me.”

Gnawing on his lip, Baekhyun thinks hard back to that day. He remembers being a little nervous too, honestly, but. “I guess at that point I was still testing the water, and it was just the wrong thing to happen at the wrong time.” He looks back over at Jongdae, who leans back and stares up at the sky through the trees.

“So it’s partly my fault, then...” Jongdae trails off. “Shit.”

“Jongdae!” Baekhyun nearly yelps. A woman walking her dog past them jumps a little, and her dog barks. Baekhyun winces and gives a little wave, indicating that everything is fine. The woman just shakes her head and continues walking, and Baekhyun would say something if he wasn’t trying to have a serious conversation here. “You can’t beat yourself up over something as dumb as this. Why didn’t you just...” Baekhyun can’t say that. If he says that, Jongdae will just keep blaming himself for his unrequited crush all these years, and nobody should blame themselves over feelings. “You’re telling me now, so I guess that counts for something.”

“Yeah, but what are you going to do about it?” Jongdae says to the sky. “Nothing, probably.” He clears his throat, and Baekhyun watches his Adam’s apple bob. “Let’s just go.” He stands up, brushing off the seat of his pants, and Baekhyun does the same.

“I don’t think it’s fair to you to give you a reply right now,” Baekhyun says carefully. “Not when I haven’t thought this over as carefully as you have.”

Jongdae turns away towards the path, and Baekhyun follows him as they walk back towards the entrance to the park. “No, don’t worry about it. I’ve survived this long, I can survive heartbreak, too.”

\--

Jongdae won’t reply to any of Baekhyun’s texts. It’s frustrating, it really is, especially since Baekhyun wants to talk about their conversation Friday night. But now it’s Tuesday, and he’s ready to start pulling out his own hair. There has to be a way around this.

_hey soo baby_

soo baby: _baekhyun. what do you want._

_have you talked to jongdae recently????_

soo baby: _yes i have. just this morning. does this have something to do with how upset he sounded_

_haha maybe but it isnt my fault you have to believe me_

soo baby: _okay baekhyun i believe you, please tell me what happened_

_that sounds sarcastic but okay we went on a lil walk after dinner friday and he told me that he had a crush on me and i said that i didnt want to reply right then and there because i didn’t have a good answer for him and now he wont talk to me_

soo baby: _hmm i don’t know baekhyun, it sounds like this is your fault_

_but i srsly didnt know what to say to him, like he just dropped this bomb outta nowhere and i wanted a second to think about how i felt cuz i thought he just wasnt interested in dating me_

soo baby: _i can see that now, but it was still a dick thing to do_

_yeah i know that but did i really have another choice_

soo baby: _you could have explained it better_

_i know and i wanna do that now to make up for it and he wont talk to me_

soo baby: _then go hunt him down jesus christ_

_okay you dont have to shout at me_

Baekhyun gets up from his couch. He’s pretty sure Jongdae will be home, because he knows that when Jongdae is upset, he mopes in bed all day.

As he’s driving over to Jongdae’s apartment, Baekhyun runs over possible scripts in his head. He honestly still hasn’t made up his mind about what he wants to say. Does he want to date Jongdae? Baekhyun thinks so. Now that he’s had time to ruminate, he’s found that while he may not have a crush on Jongdae, or feel the same way that Jongdae does, he’s more than willing to try something out relationship-wise. They’ve been friends for long enough for Baekhyun to know Jongdae’s habits, flaws, likes and dislikes, and Baekhyun knows that they could get along. Hell, he even considered asking Jongdae to live with him about a year ago (just as friendly roommates, no big deal).

And Baekhyun thinks he’s a pretty smart guy. Like, not super smart, but not dumb, either. Well, maybe dumb about some things, Baekhyun admits to himself. Like realizing when your best friend has a crush on you. But he knows that good relationships aren’t built on love alone, and that it takes cooperation, communication, and teamwork to be successful. And Baekhyun wants to be successful with Jongdae. Keeping Jongdae as both a friend and as a partner is something he thinks he wants.

It helps that Jongdae is an attractive little shit.

He pulls into one of the guest parking spots near Jongdae’s building because he has no idea how long he’s going to be here. It could be half an hour, it could be longer. Probably not overnight, Baekhyun thinks.

He gets into the lobby of Jongdae’s building just fine, but then there’s the small problem of getting Jongdae to let him up. That’s kind of an issue. Bit of an oversight. Maybe he should have brought Kyungsoo with him as a decoy.

Standing in front of the buzzer, Baekhyun chews on his lip. Here goes nothing.

He hits the button, and waits about thirty seconds before, _“Hello?”_

“Hey, um, it’s me, can I come up and talk to you?”

There’s a pause. _”Baekhyun?”_

Baekhyun winces. “Yeah?”

An audible sigh comes from the speaker. _“I don’t really want to talk to you right now.”_

“I know, and I’m sorry, but can you please let me come up and explain myself? I didn’t... say what I really felt on Friday, and I want to make sure you understand me.”

_“Baekhyun, I get it. You don’t like me, or at least, you don’t like me the way I like you, and I’m going to need a little time to get over that, okay? So maybe you should just go home.”_

Baekhyun frowns. “That’s not what I meant, Dae,” he says, sighing, “Look, this isn’t the best conversation to be having through a speaker. Can you please let me up so I can explain myself better? I don’t want to apologize for being an idiot down here.”

The speaker is silent for a while, and Baekhyun is about to press the button again when Jongdae says, _“Fine.”_ The lock on the inner door clicks, and Baekhyun dashes over, opening it and hitting the button for the elevator. He isn’t about to miss this chance.

Once he gets up to Jongdae’s floor (one anxious elevator ride included), he knocks softly on Jongdae’s door, a little hesitant now that he’s actually faced with having to confront his problems. But he doesn’t want to lose Jongdae, so he exhales slowly and wipes his hands on his pants to calm himself down.

The door opens, and Baekhyun looks up to see Jongdae standing there in his pajamas. His hair is a bit of a mess, but the good kind of mess that Baekhyun is used to seeing in the morning after he sleeps over.

“Hi,” he chokes out. “Um. I don’t really have speech planned out.”

Jongdae shakes his head minutely, and opens the door wider. “Just come in,” he says moving out of the way. “You were right when you said that this isn’t a conversation to have over a speaker, or even in the hallway.”

“Okay,” Baekhyun manages to say fairly evenly, and makes his way into Jongdae’s living room. The curtains are shut, which isn’t really like Jongdae, but the place is still pretty clean. He turns around once he’s in the center of the room—Jongdae has followed him and is standing there expectantly, arms crossed. He looks tired.

“Is this going to be quick, or should I sit down?” Jongdae says blankly, shuffling his weight around.

Baekhyun has no idea. “I don’t know,” he mumbles. “Just. Let me talk, please?”

Jongdae heaves a sigh, and skirts around his coffee table to take a seat on his couch. “Go ahead, Baekhyun.”

Taking a deep breath, Baekhyun scrambles for words. “I think, from what you’ve told me and what Kyungsoo has said, that I came across as an ass on Friday night,” he says, starting out. Jongdae snorts, but stays silent. “And I’m sorry for that. You’re my friend, and regardless of how I feel towards you, I shouldn’t have said what I said, and I should have explained myself to you instead of allowing the conversation to end where it did.”

“I’m pretty sure there’s nothing you could have told me to make it okay,” Jongdae says, sighing. “You remember the part about the crush still existing, right? Yeah, it’s a little more than a crush, and I don’t know why I’m telling you this.” He chuckles bitterly. “I’m just fantastic at setting myself up for heartbreak, aren’t I?”

Baekhyun can’t help himself; he rushes over, plops down next to Jongdae, and wraps his arms around him. Jongdae stiffens, but Baekhyun doesn’t plan on letting go. “Jongdae, listen to me,” he says, making sure he has full eye contact. “I did consider dating you when we were in college, but because of that... not-so-great coffee date, I gave up and decided that being friends with you was more important than any of that.” He pauses to allow his words to sink in. “But now that you’ve told me that you like me, I have the chance to reconsider. No, I’m not in love with you,” he allows, shrugging a little, “But I like you more than a best friend should. It also helps that you’re cute as hell.”

Jongdae is sitting there frozen. Baekhyun frowns. “Jongdae?”

Jongdae’s face cracks. “I... don’t know what to say,” he whispers, slumping. “I didn’t think you would ever...”

“Yeah, but I do,” Baekhyun reminds him. “I like you, Jongdae. And I want to date you.”

“You do,” Jongdae says, blinking. “You really do?”

“I do,” Baekhyun says, grinning. “I mean, I want to take it slow, but I do. I really do.”

“Wow,” Jongdae says, “Uh. Right.” He seems to hesitate.

“What?”

“Does taking it slow mean I can’t kiss you?”

Baekhyun laughs softly. “You can kiss me.”

And Jongdae does, and Baekhyun thinks his heart might be made of butter, because he’s been kissing Jongdae for less than a minute and it’s somehow already melted.

\--

So anyway Baekhyun has been dating Jongdae for about three years now, which is pretty cool. They’re 28, and you know, getting on in life. No longer can Baekhyun drink more than three shots of whatever without paying for it dearly the next day. And the day after, a little. But that’s fine, because that’s not really what they’re into anymore.

“Fucking christ,” Kyungsoo grunts. “Can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m jealous of your relationship.”

Baekhyun grins. He better be. They’ve worked long and hard at this, and Baekhyun and Jongdae have never been closer. Not only do they love each other and all of that jazz, but they’re still friends, and they work well together. Jongdae likes laundry, Baekhyun prefers dishes, and they even switch sometimes to keep things interesting.

In fact, it’s been on Baekhyun’s mind for a while. He’s actually thinking of proposing to Jongdae sometime soon. Maybe not right at this moment, but sometime soon.

“Aww, Soo,” Jongdae croons. “I’m still not going to bang you, if that’s what you want.”

“Didn’t ask,” Kyungsoo grumbles, picking at his sushi. Despite Baekhyun and Jongdae’s relationship, they’ve kept up their Friday dinners, and they make a point to make sure Kyungsoo doesn’t feel like a third wheel. They’re friends, first. “I haven’t had a decent date in months.”

“I could set you up with someone,” Jongdae suggests, sitting back. “There’s a few girls at my work who are single, or there’s a gay guy I know who is looking. Which are you more in the mood for at the moment?”

“You really don’t have to do that,” Kyungsoo says, setting his head into his hands. “Seriously, I can take care of myself,” he mutters.

“The problem is we’re tired of listening to you complain,” Baekhyun explains, laying a hand on Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “Maybe you’ll have better luck if it’s someone you have a connection with.”

“Plus, the guy is pretty cute,” Jongdae adds, winking. “If I wasn’t dating Baekhyun...”

Baekhyun snorts. “Who are you kidding, you would never leave me.” And he knows it: he trusts Jongdae, more than he thought was possible.

“No, I wouldn’t,” Jongdae says, smile softening. He grips Baekhyun’s hand under the table. “But Jongin would be perfect for Kyungsoo.”

Aha. “Jongin, huh?” Baekhyun says, wriggling his eyebrows. “Yeah, Kyungsoo, you definitely don’t want to pass this one up. I’ve met Jongin, and he’s damn attractive. Hot as hell, but simultaneously adorable.”

Jongdae throws his head back and laughs. “Yep, I think that’s a pretty good description. Want his number, Soo?”

Kyungsoo crosses his arms. “Alright,” he allows, “Text it to me after dinner, and I’ll do something about it. What should I say?”

“Just say you want to go out for dinner,” Baekhyun says with a shrug. “No use in playing coy, honestly.”

“I’ll let him know that you’re going to text, too,” Jongdae adds, nodding along. “And if you run out of conversation material, ask him about his dogs. He has three.”

“Got it,” Kyungsoo says wearily, and gets back to eating. “Why can’t everything be as easy as it is for you two?”

Baekhyun and Jongdae both laugh at this, and share a knowing look. It’s not easy, but somehow that’s why it works.

\--

They’re at a party at Yixing’s apartment, and Baekhyun knows maybe half the people there. Baekhyun knew Yixing in college, so of course by proxy Jongdae ended up knowing him, as well. But he’s also pretty sure that Jongdae knows even less of the people than he does, so he is sure to stay close to his side.

“Baekhyunnie!” Yixing calls out cheerfully from the other side of the room. “Thanks for coming; you too, Jongdae!”

“Glad to be here!” Baekhyun shouts back with a grin. “Let’s catch up later!” The room is a little crowded, so he directs Jongdae with a hand on his lower back into Yixing’s kitchen to get drinks.

When they enter, Kyungsoo is standing there talking to Jongin. “Oh, it’s you two,” Kyungsoo says, eyes drifting over. “I was wondering when you’d show up.”

“Yeah, well, Baekhyun was having trouble deciding what to wear,” Jongdae replies, leaning on the island. “Jongin, hi.”

“Excuse you,” Baekhyun complains, but he’s ignored.

“Hey.” Jongin smiles shyly. “Um. As you can see, I’m having a lot of fun with Kyungsoo.”

Baekhyun settles himself next to Jongdae and rests an arm over his shoulders as the pair laugh about some inside joke, probably. He doesn’t really want to know.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to start taking credit for this,” Kyungsoo warns, glaring at Jongdae. “I did plenty on my own, and so did Jongin.”

“Maybe not your entire relationship or whatever you two currently have going, but I’m definitely going to brag about introducing you,” Jongdae comments, and straightens up. “Anything good to drink?”

“Yeah, I think there’s wine somewhere and beer in the fridge if you aren’t driving, and there might be coffee in the pot but I wouldn’t try my luck,” Kyungsoo says. “Pretty sure there’s still food out there, too.”

“We already ate, but I might see if something strikes my fancy,” Baekhyun says mildly. Jongdae giggles.

“That’s code for ‘I’m definitely going to eat something despite my attempts at living a healthy lifestyle,’” he jokes. “Try not to make yourself sick, sweetheart.”

Baekhyun shoves him lightly. “I would never,” he says, pretending to be offended. Not true, he’s done that plenty of times.

Later on they’re both seated on Yixing’s couch. Half the people have left, leaving the atmosphere a little more comfortable. Baekhyun still doesn’t know some of the people there, but it’s fine, because he knows Yixing, Jongdae, and Chanyeol, and that’s enough.

“Hey, are you guys, like, dating or something?”

Baekhyun looks over, eyebrows raised. It’s one of Yixing’s friends that he doesn’t know. Jongdae is still talking to Chanyeol, but his grip on Baekhyun’s thigh tightens. “Yeah, why?”

The dude looks surprised. “Oh, I didn’t think...”

He knows that they’re at Yixing’s home, and that he shouldn’t start any sort of fight, but Baekhyun has never had the best control over his impulses. “Didn’t think what?” he asks, keeping his voice level. The least he can do is keep calm about it.

“No, I, uh, didn’t expect you to say yes,” the guy hurriedly explains. “It’s whatever, though, you know, it’s cool.”

Resisting the urge to flat out laugh at the man, Baekhyun only says, “Good, I’m glad you think we’re cool.”

The man looks deeply uncomfortable for a moment. Baekhyun realizes that he’s probably not homophobic, he just hasn’t had very much exposure to people unlike him. “So have you been... dating for long?”

“Around three years now,” Baekhyun says idly, running his fingers through the hair on the back of Jongdae’s head. How many signals does this guy need to understand that Baekhyun no longer wants to be a part of this conversation?

“Oh, wow,” the guy says. Apparently he needs a few more. “That’s pretty long.”

“Yep.”

More silence. “I would have expected one of you to be taller, though,” he says, and Jongdae looks over from his conversation with Chanyeol.

“Excuse me?”

The guy looks uncomfortable again. “Isn’t one of you supposed to be taller or something?”

“Play nice,” Baekhyun mutters under his breath, but Jongdae leans over him anyway.

“And what makes you think one of us should be taller? This isn’t some outdated heterosexual concept of a relationship. Height nor size matters to me,” he says, and Baekhyun tugs on his hair gently to remind him that they’re in someone else’s house.

“I thought...”

Baekhyun thinks it’s time for him to cut in. “A lot of people seem to have an idea that someone has to play a more feminine role in a relationship like ours,” he says, gesturing between him and Jongdae. “But that’s not necessarily true. Physical appearance also has nothing to do with it.”

“Oh,” the dude says sheepishly. “Um. Sorry. I didn’t know.”

“That’s fine,” Baekhyun says with a winning smile. He thinks he’s done an admirable job of containing himself, when it reality he kind of wants to slap this guy. “I’m guessing you just haven’t had a lot of exposure. It’s important to learn about people different from us, right?”

“Baekhyun! I haven’t had a chance to talk to you tonight!” Yixing says, walking up and beaming at him. “I see you’ve met some of my coworkers. How’s everyone doing?”

Baekhyun is actually pretty glad that the conversation ends there.

\--

Later, as Jongdae unlocks the door to their apartment, the subject gets brought up again.

“That was pretty annoying,” he says, taking off his shoes and helping Baekhyun with his coat. “They mean well, and then it all ends up going down the drain. I’m still a little angry. I probably shouldn’t be, but I hate when people think that.”

Baekhyun slips off his own shoes and heads towards the kitchen to make tea or something. “Yeah, it makes me feel a little gross,” he admits, “Keep your thoughts to yourself, you know?”

“I certainly do,” Jongdae mutters. He wraps his arms around Baekhyun’s waist from behind and rests his head on his shoulder as Baekhyun attempts to reach for the tea in their cabinet. “Leave the tea, would you? I want to go to bed.”

Baekhyun pauses, then turns around in his arms. “Is that it?” he asks, studying Jongdae’s face.

A smile grows as Jongdae admits, “Maybe not all of it. Anger has a habit of fueling something else,” he says, slowly tugging Baekhyun towards their bedroom.

“Would that something happen to be your sex drive?” Baekhyun jokes with a laugh, but in all honesty, he’s totally serious.

“How did you know?” Jongdae replies, one side of his curly mouth twitching upwards.

“Had a feeling,” Baekhyun says distractedly, reaching for the hem of Jongdae’s shirt.

\--

When they’re clean again, curled up on their bed together, Jongdae speaks up again. “Thank you.”

Baekhyun shifts a little so he can see the expression on Jongdae’s face. “For what?”

“For keeping me from jumping that guy,” Jongdae chuckles. “I was going to punch his lights out.”

The corners of Baekhyun’s mouth jump up unwillingly. “I was honestly about to do the same thing.”

“I’m glad we’re together, then,” Jongdae concludes, snuggling further under the covers. It’s starting to get pretty cold outside, and Baekhyun is contemplating wearing some warm socks to bed. Although it doesn’t really matter what he does, because if Jongdae doesn’t wear warm socks, Baekhyun is going to have to deal with his cold feet between his own legs. But despite that, there’s really nowhere he’d rather be.

They’ve grown a lot over the past three years. Baekhyun didn’t think it was possible, to trust another person this much. Yeah, they still have their friendship with Kyungsoo, but he really does have something special with Jongdae. He just hopes that Kyungsoo can find that for himself, because this feeling is the best feeling in the world, and Baekhyun wants to feel it forever.

Which brings him back to the idea of proposing. 

“Baek?”

Baekhyun nearly leaps out of his skin. “Yes?”

“Stop thinking and go to sleep.”

“Right.”

\--

After nearly betraying himself the night of the party, Baekhyun starts to seriously consider proposing to Jongdae. They recently renewed the lease on their apartment for another year, so Baekhyun is pretty sure that Jongdae plans on staying with him for at least that long. And it’s not like they haven’t talked about future dreams, kids, dogs. Baekhyun really wants a house so he can get a dog, but it’s just not feasible alone. With Jongdae’s income as well, on the other hand...

Baekhyun shakes his head to clear it. One step at a time, he reminds himself, walking into the kitchen. Jongdae is cooking something complicated on the stove, and Baekhyun thinks there’s chicken in it, but he’s really not sure. He has the steamer out, and the heat and water vapor in the air is making the ends of his hair curl (and his cheeks pink). It’s cute.

“Hi,” Baekhyun says. He’s been looking over paperwork while Jongdae cooks, and he’s definitely ready for a break.

“Hey,” Jongdae says absentmindedly. “Come over here and try some of this.”

Baekhyun moves around the counter and hovers at Jongdae’s shoulder, opening his mouth and accepting the spoonful of food when offered. He chews, swallows.

“It’s really good,” he says. It is, Jongdae is a fantastic cook. He wasn’t always, but he’s definitely gotten better since they started dating. Maybe he’s been trying to impress or something. Baekhyun wouldn’t be surprised.

“Do you think so?” Jongdae asks, still looking at the pot. “I think it could be better. There’s something slightly... off.”

“No, it’s great,” Baekhyun says immediately. “You could stop now, if you wanted.”

“Are you hungry now?” Jongdae asks him, finally looking up. “If you want to eat, we can eat.”

Baekhyun shakes his head. “Nah, I can wait. If you want to get it perfect, I don’t blame you. Plus I still have a few more loose ends to tie up with the bills.”

“I can set your phone bill up for direct deposit if you want,” Jongdae offers, rolling his eyes. “I told you I could take care of it, this shit is my job, after all.”

“My contract is almost up, anyway,” Baekhyun says with a yawn. “Just another month.” He stands there watching Jongdae for a few minutes. “I want a dog.”

“Wait, did you say another month?” Jongdae asks suddenly.

“Non-sequitur of the week, but yeah, just one more month. Why?” Baekhyun asks, leaning against the counter. It’s pretty clean with the exception of a few bowls that he assumes Jongdae was using to cook.

“Mine has been up for a while, and our provider has a discount if we get one of the family plans,” Jongdae says, adding some other spice to the dish and stirring the pot.

“Yeah, sure,” Baekhyun agrees. Internally, he’s screaming a little, because cell phone contracts are usually two years, which means Jongdae wants to stay together for at least two more years. Progress. “I still want a dog, though,” he adds, cracking another yawn. Jongdae looks up again and stares at Baekhyun long and hard. For at least thirty seconds. Baekhyun is actually getting a little uncomfortable. “Jongdae?”

“We would need to get a house if you wanted to get a dog,” Jongdae says slowly. “Is that something you’re interested in?”

Baekhyun resists the urge to spontaneously combust. “Yeah, I want a house,” he says throatily. “I don’t know if you want to, like, rent, or get one with Kyungsoo, or--”

Jongdae laughs. “No, I want to buy a house with you, Baekhyun. Just you.” He turns the heat down on the stove and stirs for a bit, then rests the spoon across the top of the pot and crosses his arms. “We can start looking, and hopefully we’ll have found something by the time our contract for this apartment is up.”

“Okay,” Baekhyun says, a little breathless. “Sure. I want to do that, too.” That’s a long term commitment. A very long term commitment. Is Jongdae hinting at something? Maybe, maybe not, but Baekhyun can work with that. He’s totally going to propose, the real question is when and where?

“Baekhyun,” Jongdae says. “Calm down. I can hear your heartbeat from here,” he says with a grin. “I’m excited, too.”

“I get to have a dog in a year,” Baekhyun blurts out. “Don’t tell me to calm down.” Nice save, Baekhyun. Got ‘em good.

\--

They’re sitting next to each other on their sofa after dinner on a weeknight, and Jongdae has his glasses on and is reading a book. It’s cute. Baekhyun can’t keep his eyes off him, even though he’s supposed to be reading a book of his own.

He supposes his staring might be a little more obvious than he originally thought, because Jongdae looks up at him, eyebrows lifted. “Yes?”

“Nothing,” Baekhyun says hurriedly. “Get back to your book.”

“Okay,” Jongdae says with some degree of amusement, but he pushes his glasses up a little and continues reading. Baekhyun does his best to focus on his own book. He’s not sure how it’s possible to still get butterflies in his stomach while looking at his boyfriend. Three years, and you’d think he wouldn’t get nervous anymore. Their first date had been a bit of a mess until Jongdae had reminded him that they were still friends, and that there really was no reason for all of Baekhyun’s anxiety.

But it’s only a couple of minutes before Baekhyun finds himself staring at Jongdae again. He can’t help it; he really could just sit here for hours and watch.

“Baekhyun,” Jongdae says gently. “Seriously. What is it?”

“You’re cute?” Baekhyun says. “I don’t know what it is, but you look really nice today.”

Jongdae looks down at himself. “I’m in sweatpants and one of your ugly t-shirts. Seriously?”

Baekhyun huffs. “First of all, that t-shirt is not ugly. Second, I think I’m allowed to call you beautiful whenever I want.”

Laughing, Jongdae shakes his head and gets back to his book. “Listen, if that’s what makes you happy, go for it.”

Baekhyun thinks he will, actually.

\--

Part of proposing is the inevitable ring shopping. Baekhyun, unfortunately, knows absolutely jackshit about choosing rings, so he’s brought some friends along for the ride.

“Are you going to get a sparkly one?” Yixing asks, a hair’s breadth from pressing his nose into the window pane of the jewelry store.

“Maybe not that sparkly,” Baekhyun admits, opening the door to the place and slipping inside. “I’m not sure Jongdae would appreciate something so... extra.”

The interior of the jewelry store is pretty typical, low-ish lighting and dark carpets to put focus on the pieces displayed in the cases wrapping the walls of the store. One of the two clerks is quietly handling the only other customer in the store while the second clerk wipes down the glass top of a display.

“Mmhm, go with the sensible choice,” Minseok adds in, already wandering over and away from their little group. Baekhyun wanted to take Kyungsoo with him on his search for the perfect ring, but let’s be honesty, Kyungsoo would probably just pick the first thing he saw and that’s no help. “Jongdae has never been the one for too much dramatic flair, anyway.”

That’s a damn lie, but, “Good point,” Baekhyun admits. “I’m aiming for pretty yet still functional, so he doesn’t feel like he needs to take it off during work or whatever.”

“Yeah, but like colors,” Yixing says, pointing to a display case in the center of the room with several rings and necklaces prominently featured. Yeah, the ring he’s pointing to is very colorful and very beautiful, but Baekhyun doesn’t think that particular ring would suit Jongdae.

“I still want it to be a little understated, though. Sleek and chic, you know?” Baekhyun says eyeing some of the displays holding rings with larger gemstones. Definitely not one of those.

“How about this?” Minseok asks, pointing at something in one of the display cases over on the side. “I’d say it’s pretty understated.”

Baekhyun wanders over and takes a look. It’s a simple band of some silvery metal. “Nah,” he says, shaking his head and leaning back. “A little too understated, if you ask me. We want something in between.”

“You’re going to have to be a little more specific, Baekhyunnie,” Yixing says from across the room. “What material do you want? Yes stones or no stones? Some kind of pattern or no?”

“Also, are you going to get a ring for yourself?” Minseok asks, leaning carefully on one of the cases to look in. “Because then we need something matching.”

Baekhyun pauses where he’s looking into a display case that only houses necklaces. They’re nice, though. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

Minseok heaves a sigh in response. “Make up your mind quick, then. I’d probably go with yes.”

“Alright, sure,” Baekhyun says. He has enough money saved up for rings for both of them. It’ll be fine. He’ll just wait a bit on the new laptop so they can still make a down payment on a house next year. “Uh, you wanted specifications too, right? How about... silver, yes to stones, but tiny if any. No pattern, and I don’t want the two rings to match exactly, maybe like a complement or something. Nothing colored, either.”

Yixing abruptly straightens. “That certainly narrows it down,” he says, shifting over to the next display. “Are you sure you don’t want anything colored?”

“Fairly certain,” Baekhyun mumbles, squatting down to get a better look at something. This ring would be great if it wasn’t gold... He really wants silver.

“Come over here,” Minseok calls out from across the room. “These are sort of what you’re looking for.”

Baekhyun gets up and walks over—the rings Minseok is pointing out are indeed more along the lines of what he wanted. Most of them are fairly simple, though, and he wants something with just a little more pizazz.

“Can I help you find something?” one of the clerks says, walking over. She crosses her hands neatly in front of her and smiles. “Are you looking for something in particular? We have some things that are not on display, if you can’t find anything that you like.”

“He’s looking for engagement rings for him and his fiancée,” Yixing says, coming up from behind and draping an arm over Baekhyun’s shoulders. “Something simple, but not too simple.”

“I’m not that picky,” Baekhyun laughs, “I just need something that’s okay to wear every day and isn’t too obtrusive, you know? No big stones.”

The clerk nods. “I have some options for that kind of thing, if you don’t see anything you quite like,” she says, bending down and pulling a tray out of a drawer behind the counter. “Are you interested in any of these?”

Baekhyun glances over the tray. The options presented are definitely more along the lines of what he’s looking for, and he spots a pair of silvery rings, both studded with a line of tiny inset diamonds around the center. “These are nice,” he mutters, pointing.

Both Minseok and Yixing lean in. “I mean, I would get something a little more flashy, but I’m me and you are you, and you know Jongdae better than both of us, so...” Yixing says, and looks over. “If that’s what you want, go for it.”

“Yeah, I think those would look nice,” Minseok agrees. “Get a couple more options, though, before you decide for sure.”

“Of course,” Baekhyun says, peering at the rest of the tray, but they end up going with the first ones that he had picked out after all.

Before Jongdae gets home from whatever excursion he decided to go on with Kyungsoo, Baekhyun takes the rings out of the bag, opens the box, and looks at them long and hard. Here’s the physical manifestation of his desire to get married to Jongdae. It’s going to happen. He’s going to do it.

But not quite yet, he laughs to himself, as he hides the rings away in the pocket of a baby pink spring jacket that Jongdae absolutely hates. He just needs to wait for the perfect moment.

\--

Jongdae’s car is still in the shop, so today Baekhyun is picking him up from work. In the summer, spring, and fall, they take the train to try and be earth-friendly, but in the winter it just isn’t worth it sometimes. This week has been getting especially cold, and there is no way Baekhyun is going to let his soon-to-be fiancé walk to the train station in that thin jacket of his. He absolutely knows better, and what if Jongdae got sick? That would be horrible.

So anyway he’s picking Jongdae up from work. Thankfully neither of them work too far from their shared apartment. He pulls into the parking garage under Jongdae’s building, managing to snag a spot close to the elevator since people are already leaving for the day.

Whipping out his phone, he checks his messages.

dae: _lemme know when you get here_

Baekhyun grins.

_okey doke im here darlin_

Jongdae quickly messages back. He must have been waiting.

dae: _< 3_

Baekhyun loves him so much.

_im next to the big exit sign btw_

dae: _ok be down in a sec_

Turning his car off, Baekhyun waits patiently until he sees Jongdae exiting the elevator. He hurries, because while they’re in a garage, it’s still fairly cold, so Baekhyun makes sure to turn up the heater a little.

“Hey,” Jongdae says, a little breathless. “How was your day?”

“Pretty average,” Baekhyun says easily, leaning over to give Jongdae a peck on the cheek. “Well, Minseok tripped over a stack of papers into an intern’s arms, so that was interesting, but other than that, nothing unusual,” he continues as he watches Jongdae put on his seatbelt, “What about you?”

“Honestly?” Jongdae says, eyebrows lifted, “Same. Although nobody tripped, which I guess is unfortunate. There were a couple discrepancies with a few accounts, but we actually managed to get them cleared up pretty quickly for once.”

Baekhyun carefully pulls out, one hand on the back of the passenger seat as he looks over his shoulder. “I guess that’s better than every day being hectic, you know?”

“Yeah, got that right. I’m not excited for taxes this year,” Jongdae says ruefully, running a hand through his hair. Baekhyun glances over; parts of it are sticking up. While he waits his turn to exit the garage, he reaches over to fix it. He almost regrets doing so, though, because Jongdae is cute with messy hair. “What?”

“Your hair got all messed up, and I was fixing it,” Baekhyun hums happily, switching his attention to the road and turning out of the garage. It’s about a twenty-minute drive home from here, but he’s actually kind of okay with that.

He can see Jongdae staring at him out of the corner of his eye. “You’re so damn whipped,” Jongdae mutters. “Ugh. Like, it’s not cheesy, but it’s really close.”

“I try,” Baekhyun says with a grin.

Later, they’re eating the dinner that they cooked together, and Jongdae reaches out and swipes a bit of pasta sauce away from the corner of his mouth, and Baekhyun could swear that his heart stopped for a second. He thinks of proposing on the spot, but decides against it. It’s a nice moment, sure, but he can do better.

“I love you,” he says instead. Jongdae just quirks an eyebrow. “What?” Baekhyun whines, swirling his pasta around with his fork. “Am I not allowed to express my feelings for you whenever I want?”

“You can,” Jongdae allows, “But that was a strange... way to do it?”

“It’s not a non-sequitur if it’s always true,” Baekhyun argues, winking greasily as he stuffs himself with a mouthful of pasta.

Jongdae sighs, leans over the table, and removes sauce with his thumb again. “I love you too, dear.”

Baekhyun can only grin.

\--

Baekhyun is already dressed, but he’s running a little late because he took too long in the shower (which may or may not have anything to do with Jongdae’s presence but that’s totally irrelevant). Jongdae, on the other hand, is still trying to decide what to wear.

“Grey or light blue tie with this shirt?” he asks, holding them up for Baekhyun to see.

“We’re going to be late,” Baekhyun warns him. “Just go with the purple one.”

Jongdae lets out a frustrated noise. “But I wore the purple one last Friday. I have to change it up a little, you know?”

“You weren’t wearing that shirt with the purple tie, though,” Baekhyun reminds him, because of course he remembers what Jongdae was wearing on Friday. He had the pleasure of removing it for him. “That’s acceptable, then. Plus, we’re running late.”

“Fine,” Jongdae mutters, stuffing the grey and blue ties back into their closet. “Purple it is.” Baekhyun watches him button up the last button on his collar (even though it will inevitably get unbuttoned around lunchtime) and tie his tie.

“You look nice,” Baekhyun says uselessly. The way his sweater falls over his shoulders does things to Baekhyun’s heart, even when he puts a blazer on top.

“Thanks,” Jongdae says, meeting his eyes in the mirror, “You do too, you know.”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun halfheartedly agrees, still focused on Jongdae. “I’m sure I do.”

Jongdae finishes fixing his hair, rolls his eyes, and grabs Baekhyun’s wrist. “Alright, airhead, let’s grab coffee before we’re actually late.”

“Mmhm,” Baekhyun agrees, paying more attention to the way the tendons in Jongdae’s hands move under his skin. He’d love to drop to one knee and (no, not blow him, get your mind out of the gutter) propose, but they’re still running a little late, and Baekhyun doesn’t want to rush. He’ll find the perfect time. It’s coming. He can feel it.

\--

“I’m going to do it soon, I just don’t know how,” Baekhyun says to Yixing over the phone. It’s Saturday, and he’s picking up a few things at the convenience store on the corner. They really need to go grocery shopping this week, Baekhyun thinks, making a mental note to do just that.

“Sometime soon would be nice,” Yixing replies. He sounds like he’s doing something, but Yixing is a busy guy and Baekhyun doesn’t mind. “I need to know when the wedding is going to be so I can plan around it.”

“Yes, because attending a celebration of your two good friends choosing to spend the rest of their lives together is a huge inconvenience,” Baekhyun comments as he opens one of the fridges in the store. Milk, he needs milk.

“That’s not what I said,” Yixing complains. “I want to make sure that I can come, no matter what date you guys choose.”

Baekhyun chuckles. “I know. But really, I don’t know how I’m going to do it. Every time I find a good moment, I always make some dumb excuse to myself as to why I can’t. It’s a lot harder than I thought it would be, you know?”

“I don’t, actually,” Yixing replies, “I’ve never tried to propose to someone, and asking people on dates is different than proposing. I think you need to remember than you’re still friends, and that he’s going to say yes no matter what.”

Baekhyun heaves a sigh. “I get that, but it’s still hard. I get nervous and just push it off,” he says, snagging a bottle of iced coffee. Should he get chips? Maybe not, it’ll be more cost effective to get the big bag when they go shopping. He would rub his hands together like Kyungsoo getting ready to do something evil, like clean his apartment, but his arms are full of milk and coffee.

“I believe in you, Baekhyunnie,” Yixing reminds him. “You got the rings, so now you have to do it before he buys some.”

“Fuck, you’re right!” Baekhyun realizes, nearly dropping the milk and scaring some teenager with a slushy (it’s November? What the fuck?). “I didn’t think about that.” He pauses. “Wait, does that mean you think Jongdae wants to propose to me?”

Yixing makes a weird frustrated noise. “Of course he does, silly. Have you seen the way he looks at you? He’s liked your flat butt since college; he’s not going to stop anytime soon.”

“I guess you’re right,” Baekhyun says unnecessarily. He gently places the milk and coffee down on the counter so the cashier can ring them up. “Huh. Okay, well, good talk. I’ll update you if something happens.”

“You better,” Yixing says cheerfully. “See you, Baekhyunnie!”

“Bye.” Baekhyun puts his phone away to pay for his purchases. He can do this. The moment doesn’t have to be perfect.

\--

Jongdae’s parents live too far away to go see them for Thanksgiving (he does go for Christmas, however), so he’ll usually Skype them the day of. Baekhyun walks into the living room just as he’s finishing his call.

“See you in a month-ish,” he says, waving. “And don’t worry, I’ve already started shopping. Although it would be helpful if I could get Christmas lists for the kids.”

“We’ll ask your brother,” Jongdae’s mother says, and blows him a kiss before signing off. Jongdae closes the laptop, and Baekhyun takes the opportunity to slide onto the couch beside him.

“You ready to go?” he asks, throwing his arms around Jongdae’s neck and effectively preventing him from doing anything.

“Nearly, I just need to put some pants on,” Jongdae replies, extracting himself and getting up to stretch. “I doubt your parents would appreciate my pajama pants.”

“They might raise some eyebrows, but they wouldn’t mind,” Baekhyun says, putting his feet up on the coffee table. “My aunt, on the other hand...”

Jongdae laughs. “I’ll just go change. Put your shoes on, though, it’ll only take me a moment.”

They’re dressed and on the road in a jiffy. Baekhyun’s parents don’t live too far out of the city; the drive only takes about an hour, and if they switch for there and back, it seems like barely anything at all.

When Baekhyun pulls into their driveway, though, he’s getting hungry.

“Any idea what’s going to be on the menu?” Jongdae asks, shutting his car door.

“Nah, not really,” Baekhyun says as they walk up to the porch. “It could be anything. At least on Chuseok I have a vague idea, but American Thanksgiving is a coin toss.”

Baekhyun’s niece opens the door, and they’re allowed inside (thank fuck, it’s cold and last year she make them wait ten minutes before Baekhyun’s brother finally realized they were there). They’re greeted with an interesting mixture of smells that Baekhyun actually kind of likes.

“Like I said, what in hell is on the menu?” Jongdae mutters, before greeting Baekhyun’s parents graciously. He really is the perfect match for Baekhyun’s family.

\--

Jongdae drives home, and they’re quiet for once. Baekhyun doesn’t have to talk all of the time (although he likes to), and sometimes just sitting in silence is nice.

Although honestly, they’re probably quiet because of all the food they ate earlier. But it’s fine.

He could propose now, he thinks idly. But they’re driving, and he doesn’t have the rings. And he knows that it’s kind of a dumb excuse, but he does want to be able to get down on one knee. He’s almost there. He has a deadline now, after all. It won’t take him long.

\--

Unsurprisingly, it takes them until Saturday to go grocery shopping. Although, because Thanksgiving was on Thursday, it’s not too busy, so they can shop in peace.

“And so I told her that there was no way that she could pull it off before the break, but she went ahead and did anyway,” Jongdae is saying, and Baekhyun snaps back into attention. “Incredible. She deserves a raise. Or a promotion. When the old guy in the office next to me finally retires in a few months, I’m going to recommend her to my boss.”

“That does sound impressive,” Baekhyun comments, looking over the apple selection. It’s decent, and he grabs a bag. “Are you sure he’s going to retire soon?”

Jongdae snorts and pushes their cart over to the tomatoes. “Oh, definitely. He’s been talking about it for the past three months. He says he’s done with technology and that he’s ready to, and I quote, ‘take a goddamn vacation.’”

Baekhyun snickers. “The technology part I can’t relate to, but the rest, same. He sounds old and bitter and amazing.”

“He is,” Jongdae replies, adding tomatoes to their cart. “I’m actually going to miss him. Despite all, he’s a pretty funny guy. Very good at what he does, too—it’ll be a big loss to see him retire, but luckily Yvonne is more than qualified to take his position. She just needs a little more experience under her belt. Maybe I’ll ask him to put together a few pointers for her.”

“Right,” Baekhyun agrees. He thinks. Listen, math isn’t really his strong area, but he does know people.

They move from the produce section onto the carbs (Baekhyun’s favorite. Thank fuck for gyms). He watches as Jongdae checks their list and picks out their favorite brands of cereal and bread, then stoops to grab the big bag of rice. He loves shopping with Jongdae; they have plenty of time to talk to one another while being productive, and that’s like combining two of Baekhyun’s favorite things into one.

Speaking of which. What if he dropped to one knee and proposed right here? He doesn’t have the rings, but... Although he doesn’t think Jongdae would be a big fan of a public proposal. This one’s not on him this time, okay? Besides, a grocery store is like, the least romantic place ever. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be a little more special than this. They go to this grocery store all the time.

“Baekhyun. I know I’m amazing, but stop standing there and pay attention,” Jongdae says, and Baekhyun blinks.

“Sorry,” he says, grinning, and follows Jongdae through the aisles. When they get home and start on laundry, Baekhyun makes sure to kiss him thoroughly against their washing machine. 

\--

Wednesday night, it’s bitterly cold and cloudy. At least it won’t rain, Baekhyun thinks, looking out the window before dinner. Miserable, though. It’s already dark outside, and has been since 5pm.

They collaborate and make an awful lot of food, enough to have leftovers for the rest of the week. Baekhyun even breaks out the side dishes, something he doesn’t normally have patience for, but he thinks it’s worth it, just to get the full experience.

When they’re done eating, they wash dishes together, and then collapse on the couch to read a bit before bed. But Baekhyun can’t focus on his book, because (well, first of all, he made a mistake in picking it, because it’s very boring) all he can think about is Jongdae. Dinner was perfect, they’re comfortable and already in their pajamas, and Jongdae looks amazing. He could propose now. He should propose now. He just needs some sort of catalyst. Something to get him off the couch.

Baekhyun chances a glance outside. In the time that it took them to finish washing their dishes, it seems to have started snowing. He can see the flakes falling in the light from the streetlamps, and it looks sparkly.

Oh.

Baekhyun has an idea.

He springs out of his seat, tosses his book down, and turns to Jongdae. “Get up,” he says urgently, “We’re going on a walk.”

Jongdae lifts his eyebrows and looks outside. “Dude, it’s snowing. No way.”

Baekhyun will not be dissuaded. “No, we have to. Please?”

“Why?”

“I want to?”

“That’s not a good argument.”

“Okay, no, but please? Indulge in me just this once?”

“I’m already in my pajamas.”

“Nobody cares, get up and let’s go.”

Baekhyun grabs onto Jongdae’s hands and manages to pull him off the couch. “It doesn’t have to be a long walk, I promise. I just really want to go.”

Jongdae sighs. “Alright, fine. We’ll go on a walk. But I get a hot shower after.”

“Deal,” Baekhyun says, already tugging him to get their coats. “I’ll get your scarf from the bedroom, just put on your shoes.”

He grabs Jongdae’s scarf, yes, but he also snags the ring box from its hiding place in the pink jacket. He opens the box just to check that yes, they are there, and tucks them in the box into his pocket. Taking a deep breath, he looks in the mirror a moment to steel himself. He can do this.

“You’re lucky I love you,” Jongdae grumbles, as Baekhyun exits their bedroom, “You’re absolutely ridiculous sometimes.” He has his coat on, and is working on tying his shoes.

“Yeah, well, I have to keep things interesting somehow,” Baekhyun says, vaguely nervous. He’s aware that his heart is beating faster than normal, but Jongdae can’t actually hear that, so.

They make it outside, and Baekhyun immediately grabs Jongdae’s hand. He has an agenda, okay, and his agenda is about a four-block walk away, so they need to get moving. If Jongdae gets too cold or too tired, he’s not going to want to make it all the way to the park.

“Sure is pretty,” Jongdae comments, as the snow continues to fall. Baekhyun looks up; it’s the perfect temperature for sparkly snow, and the flake spiraling down make a pretty picture against the night sky.

“Yeah,” Baekhyun says quietly. Their voices are muted, and even their neighborhood, which is usually still a little busy this time of night, is oddly silent. Maybe people just don’t want to be out in the snow, or maybe everyone else is busy. It doesn’t matter, all that matters is that Jongdae’s hand is in his and there’s a box containing two rings in his pocket. He’s going to do it tonight, and nothing is going to stop him.

“I guess it’s nice to see this kind of thing once in a while, even if I need to be freezing to actually witness it,” Jongdae says after another block. “Thanks for dragging me out.”

Baekhyun looks over at him and grins. “Are you being serious, or are you trying to persuade me to go back inside?”

Jongdae gives him a fondly exasperated look. “I’m committed now, okay, I’m fine with staying out for a half hour or so. But I better not get sick.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll get cold eventually, too,” Baekhyun laughs. The moisture in his breath condenses in the air, making billowing clouds of vapor. Damn, it’s cold, but Baekhyun is on a mission, and he’s not going to be stopped by the cold. It never bothered him, anyway.

Okay, that last part isn’t true, but the point got across, right?

They reach the stoplight, and Baekhyun makes Jongdae wait for them to cross.

“Oh, is this where you wanted to go?” Jongdae asks, looking across the street. “You could have just said so, you know.”

Baekhyun shrugs. “I didn’t think you would want to walk this far,” he lies. Nah, he just doesn’t want Jongdae to realize what he’s up to. It might be a plan made in a second, but it’s a good plan, and he’s not going to spoil it.

“Baekhyun, I’ll indulge in you as long as it isn’t too ridiculous,” Jongdae says as they cross the street, still hand in hand. They must look a little silly, in their pajamas going to the park in the snow, but Baekhyun could honestly care less.

“Yeah, well, I seem to remember you protesting earlier,” Baekhyun replies, tugging Jongdae towards the path he wants to take. He’s not quite sure, but he thinks the bench he’s looking for is somewhere around here. Thank god they’re still living in the same neighborhood as three years ago, or he wouldn’t be able to do this.

“I thought it was pretty earlier, this is even better,” Jongdae comments, looking around at the trees. There’s a thin coating of snow over everything now, and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Baekhyun really did pick the perfect situation.

They slow down a little to admire the scenery of the park covered in snow, but Baekhyun subtly directs them toward that bench that they stopped at that night, the one where Jongdae told him how he felt, and where Baekhyun fucked up. They’ve walked past it since, but they’ve never stopped.

Jongdae seems to realize it, too. “Hey, isn’t this...” he says, trailing off.

Baekhyun nods, and brushes the layer of snow off so they can sit. The bench is cold, but like this they can watch the snowflakes falling in the light of the nearby streetlamp. “It is. I thought it would be a nice place to watch the snow, though.”

“Right,” Jongdae says quietly, looking up. They’re silent for a while.

Baekhyun speaks up. “I saw this play once, I forgot what it was called, but it started out with two people sitting on a bench in the snow, and they were talking about how they were as close as they could possibly be, but actually they were also as far away as they could be at the same time,” he rambles on, and he doesn’t really know where he’s going with this, but. “Like, yeah, they’re sitting next to each other, but on their other side, they have the rest of the world, you know? And then the guy slowly moves farther away, but he’s like ‘I’m actually getting closer to you,’ and he keeps going until he’s off stage and the girl is sitting there alone, but then at the end he comes back around from the other side of the stage and they’re sitting next to each other again.”

Jongdae looks over at him. “Please don’t do that.” He looks vaguely exasperated.

Baekhyun shakes his head and looks back up at the sky. “I wasn’t going to. It’s a good play, we should see it if we ever get the chance.”

Jongdae laughs quietly. “But you just spoiled the end for me.”

“Sorry. There’s more to it, though. It wasn’t just that story.”

“Okay, Baekhyun. If we ever get the chance, we’ll go see it.”

“Right.”

They’re quiet for a while. Baekhyun thinks about the past year or so, and how much time he’s spent with Jongdae, and what this means to him. It’s a lot. He’s got a lot resting on this. But even then, he’s willing to go the extra distance if it means they stay together for the rest of their lives.

“Hey, Jongdae?”

“What?”

He swallows. Takes a deep breath. Slips off the bench and plants one knee in front of Jongdae.

Jongdae blinks a few times. “Baekhyun, what are you doing? You’re going to get your pants wet, and I’m not...” Baekhyun takes the box out of his pocket and opens it. “Oh.”

Baekhyun clears his throat. “Yeah. Um. I don’t have any big speech planned out, but I’ve been thinking of doing this for a while now, and... I don’t know, I thought about that play and kinda decided that tonight would be a good time. You’ve been my best friend for seven years, and my boyfriend for three, and we’ve got an apartment lease for another eleven months and a phone contract for another two years and we’re going to buy a house but I want to be with you longer than that, so. Will you marry me?”

Jongdae looks at him, stares, really. “Oh.”

Baekhyun shuffles a little. He couldn’t feel the cold before, but now he can—the water is seeping into his pajama pants and getting his knee wet. “Is that a yes, or...?”

Leaning down, Jongdae grabs him by the upper arms and pulls him up into a hug. “Of course it’s a yes,” he says, his voice muffled into Baekhyun’s shoulder. “What took you so long?”

“You’re very distracting,” Baekhyun mumbles. “Really, you’re too pretty. Plus, I was nervous.”

Jongdae laughs, and pushes Baekhyun onto the still-clean spot on the bench. “Alright, I guess. I see how I could be distracting. Now, put that ring on my finger.”

Baekhyun grins and takes the rings out of the box. He slips Jongdae’s on, and then allows Jongdae to put the other ring on his own finger. Baekhyun doesn’t usually wear rings, so the weight of it feels a little weird on his finger. He doesn’t mind it, though. Not at all.

“Thanks,” Jongdae says softly. Baekhyun looks up at him to see him admire the ring on his finger. “I like it. And thanks for proposing.”

“Don’t really think you need to thank me for that,” Baekhyun comments, grinning. “Not if I wanted to do it so badly.”

Jongdae meets his eyes and shares in his smile. “Yeah, well. I’m happy you did.” Baekhyun’s heart feels like it’s going to explode, but, like, in a good way, you know? “Can we go home now, though? My butt is cold.”

Baekhyun quirks an eyebrow and stands up. “I could fix that for you,” he says as he offers Jongdae a hand up.

“I don’t think that’s how it works,” Jongdae says with a laugh, “But home would be good. After we take a picture or something.”

“Right, yeah,” Baekhyun says, getting out his phone. They squish together in a hug to pose for the camera, and Jongdae manages to sneak in a cheek kiss, the bastard.

\--

“But seriously, how long were you thinking about proposing?” Jongdae asks when they’re already curled up in bed. “Like, months, or weeks?”

Baekhyun plays with Jongdae’s hair as he thinks. “Uh, like, since October-ish? It’s been a while, honestly. I’m not really sure.”

Jongdae exhales heavily. “Damn, Baek. What took you so long? It’s December.”

Shrugging, Baekhyun grins sheepishly. “I had to get the rings, and then there wasn’t a good time?”

“Oh my god.” Jongdae moves like he’s going to break out of Baekhyun’s hold, so he grips on tighter. That isn’t happening. “I should have just done it myself. I was going to, if Kyungsoo hadn’t told me to wait a while.” He makes a frustrated noise. “He probably told me to wait because you were being dumb.”

“I was not being dumb,” Baekhyun protests. “Proposing is hard, okay?”

“We’re not just dating, we’re best friends!”

“Still hard!”

Jongdae climbs on top of Baekhyun and smothers him. “Whatever, just sleep.”

\--

Yixing does end up making it to their wedding, despite his issues previously. He even shows up to be Baekhyun’s best man, because Kyungsoo is a damn traitor and sided with Jongdae (Jongin is sitting in the crowd, but the look on his face when he looks at Kyungsoo puts a grin on Baekhyun’s face).

But that doesn’t matter, because this way Baekhyun gets practically front row seats to watching Kyungsoo cry, even though Jongdae has to pinch his arm to get him to pay attention.

After the ceremony, Kyungsoo gives in and hugs them both. His eyes are still wet, and his voice sounds watery as he says distinctly, “Fuck both of you.”

Jongdae laughs, and Baekhyun loves the way his eyes light up. “Yeah, thanks for introducing us, Kyungsoo.”

“You’re welcome,” he says, pulling back and wiping at his eyes. “Don’t fuck this up, now.”

Baekhyun smiles, and links his arm with Jongdae’s. “We’ve lasted this far; I think we can make it.”

**Author's Note:**

> ey y y y y i hope you got multiple cavities because i sure did haha
> 
> if u like my writing hit me up on twitter @_gravitropism cuz when people yell at me i'm more motivated to write more


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